The actual origin story of “Blue Maverick,” the welcome statuary at Denver International Airport, is scary enough: On June 13, 2006, a fiberglass panel from the sculpture fell on Luis Jiménez, the genius who brought “Maverick” to life, only to have it kill him.
It was a tragic death, but his work has had a long afterlife. Have you ever heard anybody create mythology around another piece of airport sculpture? Of course not.
R.I.P. and thank you, Mr. Jiménez!
Because of that sad history, and Maverick’s violent red eyes, this 32-foot-tall horse earned the nickname “Blucifer.” But I personally don’t think he’s demonic. More like, out-of-this-world, along the lines of Kal-El — aka Superman — from Planet Krypton. Origin stories are popular now in the Marvel Universe and with our two most recent presidents caught fibbing about their backgrounds.
So why can’t I fanfic up a tale about how Blue Maverick came to be?
Just try and stop me!
So, as I was saying…
Blucipher was actually born on a ranch in the Horsehead Nebula. That’s 1,500 light-years from the nearest maternity ward.
Like many parents, they were concerned about schooling. So they packed Blucifer off to relatives in a better school district. By rocket ship.
But — hold on —there was an engine malfunction! And crash landing! Isn’t there always?
Baby Blucifer bonded with the first creature he spotted! Fortunately, it was a kindly front end loader.
He fit in well in the local schools.
It wasn’t all easy for Blucifer. He had issues with Colorado’s climate. And the state flower.
Now he’s one of us and looking for ways to give back. Good news for those wild mustangs near Craig!
